Click refresh on Indian food

Pic/Ashish Raje

When guests came to dine at Chef Garima Arora's Gaa in Bangkok, which won a Michelin Star last year, they expected curry and naan. "My version of Indian food is what I ate growing up, but unfortunately that is not what we have exported to the world," Arora, dressed in a tee and khaki-coloured pants, tells us, while on a quick visit to the city. The growing need to redefine Indian cuisine and create a new narrative around it spurred Arora to plan a brainstorming session for the first chapter of Food Forward India, a not-for-profit, culinary-focused initiative that was held at Soho House on Thursday.

This brought stakeholders from the culinary world together to ideate and debate the future of Indian cuisine. "So much is being experimented with, reintroduced and created that it has cleared some misconceptions. But this has also raised questions. What is Indian cuisine and is there a means to document it? Is there a possibility of working out a structured approach to recipes?" enquires Arora, adding that while growing up, eating out was a luxury that made us crave for fatty, spicy and heavy food since we didn't eat that at home. "Today, we prefer lighter food even when we step out. Whether we call it modern Indian or progressive, food, in my opinion, should be utility driven," Arora tells us prior to the session.

Sessions during the day-long affair included a talk by Ganesh Bagler from IIIT Delhi on computational gastronomy - an attempt to build Artificial Intelligence for data-driven food innovation. Panel discussions with speakers saw Prateek Sadhu (Masque), Thomas Zacharias (The Bombay Canteen), Vanika Choudhury (Sequel), culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal and Delhi food writer Anoothi Vishal, who discussed the need to redefine Indian food, understand farming practices and how modern plating and pairings have changed the way we perceive Indian food. While this was the first step towards documenting a cuisine that changes every 20 kilometres, future chapters will hold more revelations, one can hope. On every trip to the city, Arora loves indulging in her mother's kheema mutter. "This time, I also had a Koli meal of crab, bombil and a beautiful kanji. You only learn through experience."

Garima's favourite city joints: Cafe Madras ' Rama Nayak ' Trishna

Learnings from Indian food

. Anything cooked on the grill is amazing: It adds an element of comfort to the dish. The Mumbai bhutta is a classic example.

. An acidic component elevates a dish: For example, in a chaat, a splash of yogurt is what makes the dish pop.

. Sweetness in savoury dishes: Think supple neer dosas with a sweet coconut and jaggery chutney.

. Simple ingredients can deliver a lot flavour-wise if you know how to use them. I say this all the time. Indians know instinctively how to draw the best flavours out of vegetables. Think of the South Indian thali.

. Eating with our hands influences the taste of food. In other cultures, people would experience it first with their palate but we experience things first when we feel the food with our fingers. The way one approaches the food in front of them can change a lot.

Play with ingredients in your kitchen

. Use chickpea water (aqua fava) as a stabiliser. Whip it to make eggless mayonnaise, sauces and dips.

. Coconut can be used to add texture to a dish. For example, you can cut into noodle-like strands and add it to your soups.

. Utilise seasonal fruits, like mangoes, in savoury dishes. At Gaa, we use fruits and vegetables to create our signature first course, which is a chilled soup.

. Use spices in desserts like the toasted coriander with jaggery. We serve a gud and coriander seed ice cream inspired by gud dhana, which is served during Gujarati wedding ceremonies.

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